Jerzy Putrament

Putrament studied at the Stefan Batory University in Wilno, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania), and worked as a journalist during the 1930s, when he was arrested and tried as a communist. His first novel, Rzeczywistość (1947; “Reality”), draws on the experiences of his trial. His acclaimed early poetry collections Wczoraj powrót (1935; “Yesterday the Return”) and Droga leśna (1938; “Forest Road”) combine sensitivity to his native countryside with his dedication to revolutionary politics. During World War II, Putrament escaped to the Soviet Union, where he cofounded the Union of Polish Patriots. He later served in several government posts as Polish ambassador to Switzerland (1945–47) and to France (1947–50) and as a member of the Sejm (parliament; 1952–61) and the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers (Communist) Party (1964–81).

Altogether Putrament wrote some 50 fictional works. Among his best-known writings are the political novels Rozstaje (1954; “At the Crossroads”) and Małowierni (1967; “Those of Little Faith”) and the wartime novel Bołdyn (1969). As editor of two literary journals he exercised considerable influence on cultural policy from the 1960s onward.